Court Finds British Agents Spied on Two Foreign Human Rights Groups

U.K. tribunal rules the interception was ‘lawful and appropriate’

LONDON—British intelligence agents spied on two foreign human rights groups, a special U.K. court found, in a rare glimpse into the government’s spying practices.

The Investigatory Powers Tribunal said spies from GCHQ—Britain’s secretive communications intelligence agency—had broken the law by storing intercepted data for longer than its internal policies allowed. But the tribunal, which investigates complaints against intelligence agencies, ruled that the interception was “lawful and appropriate.”